Fulham 1 - 1 Leicester Post Match Thread

[foxes_rule1978]

Just now, Bats8711 said:

Am I the only one who thought Okazaki was noticeably good and certainly the only reason we got a point?  He starts in a supporting role as long as Vardy is out for me.  Nacho can't do it as lone striker.  Needs some support.

It would seem playing both is the solution to no Vardy... I think we should stick with it for the next match 

[rachhere]

7 minutes ago, Bats8711 said:

 

       Evans Morgan Maguire

  Ricardo Ndidi Mendy Chilwell

                 Maddison

           Okazaki  Nacho

 

That's pretty much the formation we ended with wasn't it, with Iborra as CB and then Marc as RWB? Think this is a good shout for an alternative line in matches when Vardy can't play. 

[Leicester_Loyal]

59 minutes ago, jayfox26 said:

This will be the story of our season. United are absolute garbage this season and 6th place is up for grabs and could be ours but our continued lack of consistency pulls us back every time. Yes we are unbeaten in 6 but draws like today may as well be defeats. We are 1 or 2 players short of being a really good team. We need a striker and a creative winger. Without Vardy we look so poor up top. Ive always defended Iheancho and said he could be a good player for us but he was awful tonight and doesnt show any sign of being a long term vardy replacement. We need to get it right with our next striker as other than Ulloa, Shinji and Vardy we really have had some terrible strikers recently!  

This is spot on. We've made too many poor signings, we need to find a couple of gems again. Even just signing a winger that could chip in with 10/12 goals a season would do us wonders, Gray and Albrighton won't get that many this season.

 

Iheanacho is running out of chances, he really is.

Edited 5 December 2018 by Leicester_Loyal

[vanity]

 

24 minutes ago, oxtonfox said:

According to RLeic and Puel; Vardy is doubtful for weekend. That’s not looking good for Spuds and City in the League Cup. 

I saw something about surgery potentially being needed? That may make this December an exceedingly trying run indeed. 

[Bert]

11 minutes ago, Bats8711 said:

 

       Evans Morgan Maguire

  Ricardo Ndidi Mendy Chilwell

                 Maddison

           Okazaki  Nacho

 

Like it but I would go 

 

         Soyuncu Morgan Evans 

Ricardo Iborra N’didi Mendy Chilwell.                        Madders Gray  

 

I know I’ve said I’d drop N’Didi in another thread but it won’t happen and three centre halves, with three centre mid will help us out when we are under pressure. Chilwell and Ricardo providing the width and pace along with the movement of the front two. 

[l444ry]

Fans brilliant tonight. Shame about the dodgy performance. Can’t understand why Puel has gone back to Diabate who is not doing anything in the U23 side. Nacho needs a rocket up his arse. Just doesn’t move at all. Fair play to Puel with the Iborra/Okazaki substitutions. Saved the day in the end. Poor overall.

[elvisfmcfly]

I’m gonna give Puel a break,it’s not a bad point all things considered but our squad is pretty horrific really,I don’t care whose fault it is but recruitment since the title win is bill oddie scandalous! 

Edited 5 December 2018 by elvisfmcfly

[The Fox Covert]

Can't have been that much worse than Manure against the Arse, seen in the pub. Comical championship defending. Both sides look as far away from Europe next season as our young team. Onward to Saturday against the Spuds, once again third in a two-horse race.

[Albert]

20 minutes ago, Foxhateram said:

Okazaki changed the game again. We need a number 10 that is going to drive us forward and put the opposition under pressure. Madisson doesn't do enough for me. Good quality in front of goal, but doesn't do enough off the ball to take the game to the opposition.

He’s our top goal scorer & top assist maker.....

 

 

 

 

[Chester Dontlie]

1 hour ago, vanity said:

Dear Claude:

 

We cannot FUCHING play your style when we do not start players who have quality on the ball. Let's allow a O to represent a crap passer/ball handler, X a player who can pass and handle. This was our formation today:

 

O  O  O  X

   O  O

X   X    X

     X

 

This is pretty damn basic -- five of our back six couldn't reliably link play with their passing, so we spent the vast majority of the match unable to get the ball tyo our attacking players. Claude, you are not a stupid manager, but how the actual F do you keep making the same mistake so many times with our club?

 

It is pretty fuching basic -- when we start Ndidi-Mendy every game, it means we have two players who are a minimal threat to get the ball forward to our attacking players (Mendy can do it occasionally, Ndidi just about never). We are able to get away with it when players are healthy, as we have Pereira and Chilwell and sometimes Albrighton on the wings to get the ball forward, as well as Maguire when he goes marauding. But Simpson cannot pass reliably, neither can Wes or Soyuncu, so we spent the vast majority of this match unable to get the ball past midfield unless we lumped it forward and hoped a Leicester player could get on the end of it. 

 

I just don't understand the conservative, all-defense approach in this match. We probably score 3-4 if we field a more attacking side. Instead we grind out a 1-1 draw to a VASTLY inferior team, and now we have a brutal run of matches against incredibly dangerous teams. 

 

Claude, you have to play to win against the crap teams. You keep on playing not to lose, and it is reliably costing us points. It is your greatest failing as a manager, and it is going to get you canned if you keep it up.

Great post, sums up my issues with Claude and 'puelball'.  You worded it much better than I could.

 

Next up, we have games against Spuds, Palace, Man City (twice), Chelsea, Cardiff, Everton. If Puel won't allow us to be 'adventurous' even against the likes of Fulham, how can we expect to mantain our (relatively high) position in the table? I understand that people are chuffed with our glorious unbeaten run of six games and it would be great if it went on for as long as possible but while we don't lose often, we also rarely win. A draw gives you only 1 point more than a loss, that's not a lot. I'd rather if we were more optimistic / positive offensively speaking and really had a go, especially against a lower half of the table teams and were fielding more attack minded players who can pass and play some one twos than played it safe as we do now, especially with those two O's (instead of X'es) in midfield. 

Edited 5 December 2018 by Chester Dontlie

[Foxhateram]

8 minutes ago, Albert said:

He’s our top goal scorer & top assist maker.....

 

 

 

 

Off the ball he doesn't do enough is what I said. He didn't look like creating anything today against a compact Fulham defence (we don't score many, or create enough, despite the facts you outline above, therefore I feel we need to look at other options).

 

Okazaki put them under pressure and gave Madison the freedom to get into a more advanced position (where he excels). I'd go for Madisson up top with Okazaki behind when Vardes is out.  

Edited 5 December 2018 by Foxhateram

[DerbyshireFox]

Frustrating because early on they were so open, but they came back into it. Not taking our chances. Put Wes and Soyuncu at fault for the goal. Wes leaving it to go through for Soyuncu to deal with and Soyuncu for not staying on his feet. Credit to Claude for the changes, gave them more to think about and they didn’t adjust. Allowed Maddison space to come in from deep and finish well. Definitely missed Vards industry but a point on the road is never a bad thing ?

[coolhandfox]

Any point away is a good one, one easy points in this league.

 

Without Maguire, Evans and Vardy, its a better one.

[Anglodanglo]

1 hour ago, Corky said:

Disagree. That includes Mahrez, Kante, Drinkwater and Huth.

 

The main team is decent, the squad disjointed.

Fair enough mate, from a 1st eleven perspective I totally agree

 

The point I wanted to illustrate, and hopefully without sounding pedantic, is we're not in a bad position as a club. Certainly not to the extent we should change manager.

 

My opinion on this could change of course. I can't polarize my view as either 100% negative or positive towards Puel.

 

As for tonight. A point away from home while not playing well. As a cup half full type i'll take that.

Edited 5 December 2018 by Anglodanglo

[TMELcfc]

1 hour ago, AlloverthefloorYesNdidi said:

Dont need to campaign to maintain the status quo

 

But i'll tell you how we gloss over it. 2 of our best players rested partly excuses how awful.we were

 

We were playing against a genius manager who won the league against 5000-1 odds who knows how to win as the underdog

 

And, Puel made the change that instantly got us back in the game and we could have won (yes, also could have lost), aaand he did it with Okazaki!

 

Come on man.. we were doggo and we got a point, will be 9th by the end of he day if Arsenal dont score.... its all good

We were doggo... exactly against Fulham

and many other poor sides this season. 

[VLC86]

19 minutes ago, Albert said:

He’s our top goal scorer & top assist maker.....

 

 

 

 

Yeah but what else does he do?

[M0901]

Unbeaten in 7 x

[jamfox]

21 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

This is spot on. We've made too many poor signings, we need to find a couple of gems again. Even just signing a winger that could chip in with 10/12 goals a season would do us wonders, Gray and Albrighton won't get that many this season.

 

Iheanacho is running out of chances, he really is.

"Iheanacho is running out of chances, he really is."

 

Sadly i agree with that , clearly got some potential but like you i am wondering if it will ever happen.  the antithesis of vardy in that he looks clueless and not up for the fight sometimes and ok that could be fine if you put them away..  needs confidence but yep skating on thin ice 

[Chester Dontlie]

27 minutes ago, Bats8711 said:

Am I the only one who thought Okazaki was noticeably good and certainly the only reason we got a point?  He starts in a supporting role as long as Vardy is out for me.  Nacho can't do it as lone striker.  Needs some support.

I thought so too, obviously. If Puel had started Oka and Nacho upfront, we would most likely win this. Even Vardy have been struggling as a lone striker for most of the time really.

I mean, it's okay to play with one striker now and then but this 4-2-3-1 is becoming like a religion for Puel. It's like Ranieri's 4-4-2.

 

Regardless of the formation I think either one of Ndidi / Mendy pair should be replaced with more creative option (even if currently Iborra and Silva are out of form). Alternatively, Ndidi should be encouraged to make offensive runs and work on his (forward) passing / through balls, he does have a bit of inclination to go forward he has a go from distance now and then but maybe Puel isn't making the best of it.  

[Foxxed]

Soyuncu looked okay but his inexperience showed for their goal.

 

Ndidi seemed okay from what I saw of the first half.

 

I guess Gray and Richardo were saved for the Spurs match. And I hope Evans returns for that.

 

Iheanacho needs some help to get back into form. It's not like we're brimming with options up front.

[NaijaFox]

NO, we did NOT “steal” a point!

 

On the balance of play, we should have won the first-half and should have lost the second. As it turned out, the opposite of each happened. Fair play, that’s football for yer! 

[FOXSE]

4 minutes ago, NaijaFox said:

NO, we did NOT “steal” a point!

 

On the balance of play, we should have won the first-half and should have lost the second. As it turned out, the opposite of each happened. Fair play, that’s football for yer! 

We definitely stole a point.

[Bunyip]

1 hour ago, themightyfin said:

We are in the top half of the table. 

Yes quite baffling isn't it ?

Edited 5 December 2018 by Bunyip

[Blue Ed]

9 minutes ago, Chester Dontlie said:

Regardless of the formation I think either one of Ndidi / Mendy pair should be replaced with more creative option (even if currently Iborra and Silva are out of form). Alternatively, Ndidi should be encouraged to make offensive runs and work on his (forward) passing / through balls, he does have a bit of inclination to go forward he has a go from distance now and then but maybe Puel isn't making the best of it.  

Yep this. I think they had an off day today and really exposed the weakness of the pair. That said when they are good it does work but it asks alot of Mendy and he's going to have off games. I think they are similar players playing similar roles I would like to see a proper playmaker next to Mendy or Ndidi who can retain possesion drive and pass. A player like Gary Parker back in the day

[Blue ROI]

Ropey overall performance but I'm content with the point. 

 

Missing half of our best starting 11, up against a side battling for survival managed by someone with an immaculate 'new manager bounce' (very few better) and away from home. 

 

A point to compensate for the 3 we ought to have taken from the Burnley game.

 

Look on the bright side lads.